Quatro! Quince! Si!!

I’m on the Austin Marathon Pace Team again this year. I’m pacing 4:15 with the Dan-O. Last year, and the year before, the Dan-O and I placed second in the pacer competition for pace accuracy. I’m thinking this has gotta be our year to place first.

On Saturday’s run, the Dan-O decided we needed to have a theme for our pace. He suggested a “put the hammer down” theme. We’d carry hammers – toy hammers, I begged – and pretend to dramatically throw them down at significant places along the course. We just need to turn a fuel belt into a tool belt and we have our theme for ‘09!

In our first year our theme came to us in the last half mile. As we came around the Capitol, Dan was hollering at anybody and everybody around us. “Come on, RUN!” “We’re almost there!” “Don’t let us catch you!” A Spanish-speaking runner started running along with us hollering “Quatro… Quince…SI!” (four fifteen, yes!) with great feeling, over and over until we figured out what he was saying. So the three of us ran along together hollering “Quatro…Quince…SI!” all the way down Congress Ave. to the finish line.

We acquired a theme last year, too. Some spectators react when a pace group comes by. Usually they’ll cheer extra loud. And spectators often move around the course from place to place. Last year there was a guy who cheered us at three different places along the course by hollering “Four fifteen! I like my sausage lean!” It wasn’t until we were recounting the whole race ordeal that Dan and I each remembered hearing it several times. Since then I’ve wondered if he made up little rhymes for other pace groups. “Three thirty! Your socks are dirty!”, “Three forty! Lordy, Lordy!” “Four hour! Light the Tower!” Whatever.

But before the marathon, I gotta get some miles in. We have the RunTex 20-Miler on Sunday and, having been such a slacker since December 7, I have a feeling it’s going to hurt.